# Partition recognition primary and logical

### From CGSecurity

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After "Deeper Search" partitions are often displayed as D (deleted). You can change the status of the selected partition using the left/right arrow key. The available statuses are Primary, * bootable, Logical, Deleted.

### Primary Partitions

The first primary partition usually starts at cylinder 0, head 1, sector 1. Additional primary partitions are starting at a non-nul cylinder, head 0, sector 1.
Example:

    TestDisk 6.9-WIP, Data Recovery Utility, December 2007
    Christophe GRENIER <grenier@cgsecurity.org>
    http://www.cgsecurity.org

    Disk /dev/sdd - 36 GB / 34 GiB - CHS 4492 255 63
          Partition              Start        End    Size in sectors
    * HPFS - NTFS              0   1  1  2230 254 63   35840952 [Primary 1]
    P HPFS - NTFS           2231   0  1  4491 254 63   36322965 [Primary 2]

    Structure: Ok.  Use Up/Down Arrow keys to select partition.
    Use LEFT/RIGHT Arrow keys to CHANGE partition characteristics:
    *=Primary bootable  P=Primary  L=Logical  E=Extended  D=Deleted
    Keys A: add partition, L: load backup, T: change type, P: list files,
         ENTER: to continue
    NTFS, 18 GB / 17 GiB

You can have up to one primary bootable partition per disk.

### Logical Partitions

Logical partitions start is usually a non-null cylinder, head 1, sector 1.
Example:

    TestDisk 6.9-WIP, Data Recovery Utility, December 2007
    Christophe GRENIER <grenier@cgsecurity.org>
    http://www.cgsecurity.org

    Disk /dev/sdd - 36 GB / 34 GiB - CHS 4492 255 63
          Partition              Start        End    Size in sectors
    L HPFS - NTFS              1   1  1  2230 254 63   35840952 [Logical 1]
    L HPFS - NTFS           2231   1  1  4491 254 63   36322965 [Logical 2]

    Structure: Ok.  Use Up/Down Arrow keys to select partition.
    Use LEFT/RIGHT Arrow keys to CHANGE partition characteristics:
    *=Primary bootable  P=Primary  L=Logical  E=Extended  D=Deleted
    Keys A: add partition, L: load backup, T: change type, P: list files,
         ENTER: to continue
    NTFS, 18 GB / 17 GiB

Partitions created under Vista doesn't follow these legacy partition scheme.

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